Aston Villa Under-21s must improve defensively to navigate tough run of fixtures with success
Aston Villa Under-21s must look to improve their leaky defence if they harbour ambitions of staying in the Premier League 2 play-off spots during the remainder of the season
The Young Lions are currently occupying fourth spot in the table after a run of four wins in their last five games, but face an extremely tough run of games to end the season.
Of their four remaining fixtures this term, Tony Carss’ side will face off against three teams who are currently in the top six in the Premier League 2 table – a run which will test the Villans’ defence to its extremes after shipping a worrying six goals in their last two outings.
After hosting third-placed Southampton next Friday (17 March), Villa play fifth-placed Norwich, Derby County and Nottingham Forest – who are currently three points off the top of the table.
Sequences of games don’t come much tougher than this, and the crop of academy players must be at their best to navigate them and remain in the play-off spots when the season comes to a close in mid-April.
Despite Villa’s attacking play flourishing in recent times, having scored nine goals in their last two outings, the defence remains a problem which needs to be improved upon.
A ten-goal thriller against Sunderland was marred by the fact the Under-21s shipped four relatively soft goals, and once against, their struggles at the back had them on the back foot from the very first whistle as Middlesbrough netted a goal after five minutes last time out.
With Sil Swinkels and Josh Feeney at the heart of their back four, this defensive vulnerability comes as a surprise.
Swinkels, 19, was recently named on the bench in Unai Emery’s first-team squad against Leicester City, while Feeney was highly regarded by previous manager Steven Gerrard and taken to be a part of the club’s pre-season tour of Australia last summer.
Alongside captain Seb Revan at left-back and Kaine Kesler-Hayden on the right, Villa’s team possesses more than enough quality to keep the goals out of the back of the net as the season reaches its climax.
Winning ugly isn’t something the Under-21s have done much this season, but it is a trait that almost every successful side embraces with open arms. In the closing weeks of the season, Villa must look to put this into action.
In other Aston Villa news, the club has been tipped to sign a new striker to aid their bid to return to European football.